Professor Sir Deian Hopkin is President of the National Library of Wales, one of the world’s major libraries.   Born in Wales, and a fluent Welsh speaker, he was educated at Llandovery College and Aberystwyth University, graduating in history and gaining his PhD there.  After a period at Queen Mary College, he spent 24 years in the History Department at Aberystwyth becoming head of History.  He was also one of the first part-time tutors to be employed by the Open University at its establishment.  In 1991 he was appointed Dean of Human Sciences and later Vice Provost at London Guildhall University and during that period was involved in the construction of the Women’s Library in Aldgate, the home of the Fawcett Library of the suffragette movement.

In 2001 he was appointed Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of London South Bank University ( of which another patron of Hillcroft, Jane Newell OBE, was Chairman and Pro-Chancellor.)  After his retirement in 2009 he was appointed interim Vice Chancellor of the University of East London and, following his inquiry for the government,  interim Chairman of the Student Loans Company.   He continues to be Emeritus Professor at both London South Bank and East London. 

Active in educational policy and the UK skills agenda, he was the Chairman of Universities UK’s Skills Task Force, joint chairman of the Higher Education Progression Board, a member of the Learning and Skills Council and of Skills for Health SSC.  He was also the Government’s “champion” of the 14-19 Diplomas and the Apprenticeships programme and was Chairman of the UNIAID Foundation, the national charity supporting students with financial difficulties, now merged with the Brightside Trust. 

Having begun his career as a television presenter, he served on the BBC General Advisory Council, remains a regular broadcaster and columnist for the BBC, especially in Wales and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Times Higher Education. 

Currently he is a Council member of the University of Essex and of the City and Guilds Institute, a trustee of the Campaign for Learning, vice-chairman of the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, Chairman of the Local Economy Policy Unit and Chairman-Emeritus of the University Centre Jersey.  He is also patron of several educational charities and an Ambassador for Cerebra.  He serves on the all-Party Higher Education Commission and is a trustee of the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London. A Freeman of the City of London, he is a court warden of the Company of Educators in the City of London.  Having received several honorary degrees and fellowships, both in the UK and abroad, he was knighted in 2009 for services to higher education and skills and now serves on the Cabinet Office’s Education Honours Committee.